


I Love You Because

by BluCanon



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 09:37:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10533810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluCanon/pseuds/BluCanon
Summary: Sometimes sleepless nights can be a beautiful thing.MAJOR FLUFF ALERT





	

The whispers of leaves falling from branches in the soft October wind drift in through the open window, bringing with it the cool Autumn breeze that I had longed for all summer.

Autumn was always my favourite time of year. As a young boy it was the season that brought me one step closer to Halloween. Dressing up like superman, taking on the world and generally flying in the opposite direction of my mother. 

As a self conscious college student who only had one leg after some car accident years before had taken the other one, it meant finally getting to leave the shorts at the back of my closet and revel in the security and comfort of my jeans and oversized sweaters again. 

As a painter and lover of hot chocolate it meant getting to paint the extraordinary orange and red tinged parks of Panem while sipping on a steaming cup of the milky liquid.

But as 22-year-old Peeta Mellark, teacher of a bunch of unruly first graders and part time baker on the side, it was Autumn that had brought him her.

The bed shifts, pulling me from my reverie and drawing my focus onto the raven haired beauty curled up next to me. To my surprise, her liquid mercury eyes are wide open, illuminating the darkness and no hint of sleep within.

“Hey” I whisper, “can’t sleep?” She nods her head, moving closer to my embrace and resting her head against my chest. The silence envelops our bedroom once more and as the minutes’ tick by, I expect to hear her gentle snores but am startled once again when she whispers “can I ask you something?”.

I smile, kissing the top of her head, “if it’s to make you chees buns at this ungodly hour, my answer has to be a heart-breaking no, sorry Kat”. She lets out a long drawn sigh, feigning disappointment before laughing.

“No that’s not it bread boy”. 

Silence fills the room once again and I shift onto my side to face Katniss, trying to hide my growing anxiety over her suddenly sombre expression.

Her smile is gone and a hint of nervousness is etched upon her face. Tentatively, I reach out, tracing her features with the pad of my finger, rough and worn from all those years of baking.

“Why do you love me” she asks, her words barely audible, lost in the darkened bedroom.

My brow furrows in confusion. Where was this coming from? Katniss knew how much she meant to me by now surely? I mean we had been dating almost three years. 

“What do you mean?” I eventually reply, failing to hide my growing panic.

“I don’t know” she breaks eye contact deciding instead to stare at the wall and twisting her braid between her two fingers, a sure sign of her anxiety. 

“I guess I’m asking, why me? Why out of all the girls you could have had did you settle for me?” Her voice sounded like that of a lost toddler in a shopping mall, so small and vulnerable, laced with apprehension and confusion. I lurch forward, wrapping her in my arms, feeling my heart break with the weight of her question. 

How could she not know the effect she had on people? Not just on people but on me? I loved Katniss more than anything in the entire world. She needed to know that. Needed to know why I couldn’t live without her, why she made me feel like the luckiest man alive. 

“First of all, I don’t ever want to hear you saying that I settled for you again, it’s the opposite actually. The day I met you my whole life changed”.

Almost sensing her smirk and eye roll I push on.

“It sounds cheesy, I know, but something shifted in me and I just knew that everything; all the heartbreaks, failed relationships, pain and loneliness that I suffered through the years were all worth it the moment you walked into my life.

I remember that very first day I saw you. 

Autumn was just setting in, and I had been having a particularly stressful morning. That isn’t unusual being a first grade teacher and all, but a bad virus had been going around school and I found out first-hand just how nasty it could be after Cato Alexander puked his breakfast all over my work shirt and pants.

After calming twenty grossed out six year olds down and sending Cato swiftly to the medical room, I had to drag my vomit covered ass down to the gym department to see if the one and only Mr Gale Hawthorne could give me some clothes to borrow for the rest of the day. 

Following what felt like an hour of his jokes, taking pictures and laughing, he managed to find some old sweatpants and a ripped “Panem Elementary” jumper. 

But my morning from hell didn’t stop there, oh no. As if my embarrassment was not yet enough, at recess all staff were instructed to go to the staff room to meet the new kindergarten teacher starting that day. 

I had planned to run back home grab a new shirt and pants and then make it back five minutes before bell to give my introduction, but Effie caught me coming out my class and practically dragged me into the staff room despite my protestations. 

That was when I saw you.

You were talking to the “illustrious” Mr Odair and had your signature school plastered on your face. I don’t think I have ever smiled so hard in my life.

In that moment I knew you weren’t like any girl I had ever met.

I mean every girl fell for Finnick Odair’s sea green eyes and god like good looks.

And despite being dressed like a complete idiot, I didn’t have it in me to leave. I spent the whole twenty minutes just watching you. 

The nervous smile you gave everyone when Effie introduced you, the way your silver grey eyes, the most beautiful and captivating I have ever seen, kept flitting toward the clock silently willing it to go faster, the way you twirled your braid when someone asked you a question, the small undeniable smirk you gave when you caught me walking in and saw what I was wearing and how every time you looked over at me to find me staring right back at you, you immediately dropped your gaze to the “very interesting” sneakers you were wearing” 

I chuckled at the memory.

“Everything about you was just perfect”.

“You walked over to the coffee machine, where I was hiding and I asked how your day had gone so far.”

“You leaned in, whispering honestly about how embarrassed you were, that you had just caught some teacher wearing a tracksuit while working, redefining the whole casual Friday, and now you felt ridiculously overdressed.”

Katniss laughed at the recollection, flashing the exact same smile she had all those years ago.

“The minute you showed that blindsiding smile of yours, I knew I was a complete goner. Then the more we got to know each other, the more I learned about you, and I realised that you, just like me, were far from perfect and that made me love you even more. I fell in love with every part of you Katniss, every single rough edge and sharp corner because they are what make you you.

She smiled shyly, averting my gaze in an attempt to hide her blush. I wasn’t nearly  
finished though. 

“ I love that on our first date you refused to let me pay for our dinner, instead only allowing me to pay half, I love the way your eyes light up when you talk about your day, I love that our fridge is covered in drawings from the kids you teach because you treasure each and every one of them, I love that even though you really can’t bake, and I mean seriously can’t bake, you still surprise me with a chocolate cake every birthday, I love how impatient you get when I tell you that we need to wait twenty minutes for the cheese buns to cool, , I love that you sing in the shower when you think I can’t hear you, I love the groan you give every morning when the alarm goes off, I love the way your eyelids flutter as you drift off to sleep, I love that you look 1000 times better than me when you wear one of my sweatshirts, I love your goofy grin when you beat me at Mariokart, I love that you would rather binge on Netflix and pizza than go to an expensive five star restaurant for date night, I love that you go crazy when I buy you things cause you just hate me thinking I need to “buy your love”, I love that even on the coldest winter nights you still let me leave the window open, I love how you snore in your sleep, your croaky morning voice, how you hate when I get my hair cut, how you blush every time I tell you how bad I want you, how you fall asleep on the couch within half an hour of our Friday night movie, how you can’t function in the morning without a cup of coffee but most of all I love you just because you are the most beautiful and loving person I have ever met and I somehow fall more in love with you every single day. 

I finally turn towards her, awestruck by her heart-stopping smile and tear filled eyes.

“How was that?” I chuckle.

Without saying a word, she leans over taking my lips in hers. It’s not like the hungry kisses we shared mere hours ago but one filled with promise and adoration. 

We reluctantly pull apart for air as she whispers “what did I do to deserve you?”

I chuckle heartily. “That’s a question for another night my queen”. 

Her laugh rings through the air causing my heart to skip a beat as I lean in to kiss her again. With my forehead resting against hers I murmur “I should get some sleep, I have a busy day tomorrow”

She grunts in disapproval but nods her head in agreement a shy smile once again gracing her moon kissed face. “I just thought of another reason”. 

She stares at me in question. 

“I love you because in less than 14 hours’ time, exactly three years since I met you on that cold Autumn day, I will finally get to call you my wife”.

Fin

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooooo dear reader!  
> This was my first ever fanfiction and I am so glad that I finally built up the courage to just post it. I am one of those die hard Everlark shippers who refuses to sit back and watch the Hunger Games fandom whither away and die so here is my contribution. These two still have so many more paths to explore in my opinion in all different kinds of ways so with any luck you will be seeing some more of my drabbles popping up in the future.  
> Thank you to all the authors who continue to make my Everlark heart swoon. you guys are incredible and inspire me everyday.  
> And of course a huge thank you to you, my dear reader. Thanks for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for any mistakes! I'm still learning!
> 
> Hope to see you soon, 
> 
> Dandelion Games


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